A standing-room-only
crowd filled the GLBT History Museum in the Castro recently, to hear the story
of Jae Whitaker, an African-American lesbian who experienced San Francisco at
the height of the Beat Generation.

Whitaker
rubbed shoulders with the likes of the late gay poet Allen Ginsberg, poet and
City Lights Bookstore co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and had a 10-month
romantic relationship with rock star Janis Joplin.

"It
was a special time. It all was special because I was living it. When I look
back on it, it will all be special," Whitaker said at the July 6 event.

Joey
Cain, curator of the museum's current exhibit, "Lavender-Tinted Glasses: A
Groovy Gay Look at the Summer of Love," sat down with Whitaker as part of
the museum's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the summer when young
people, many self-described hippies, flocked to the city's Haight-Ashbury
neighborhood.

Whitaker,
79, did not lack an ounce of the spunk that shines through the picture of her in
her early 20s that hangs in the museum. The audience was in stitches during the
two-hour event reacting to her jokes, stories, and wittiness.

Born
in Brooklyn, Whitaker said by the time she was 5 years old, she knew she was
different. After graduating high school, she traveled across the county with a
woman, eventually landing in San Francisco in the early 1960s.

Whitaker
talked about her memories living with Joplin, discovering Bob Dylan's music,
and brought the audience back to a time when being a black lesbian was far from
acceptable.

"Blacks
were not accepted too well," Whitaker said. "I was like a fly in the
buttermilk everywhere I went, but we made it."

Stories
of segregated facilities and even attempted attacks on Whitaker were discussed.
Times became even tougher when she entered a biracial relationship with Joplin after
meeting her at a bar.

Being
a black lesbian dating a white woman in those times, Whitaker said that she was
often vilified. Because of this, Joplin herself did not accept her own bisexuality,
she said.

Whitaker
and Joplin still had an eventful relationship and hobnobbed at North Beach bars
Gino& Carlo and the Coffee
Gallery, the first of which still stands today.

"There
were never any exclusively lesbian bars back then," Whitaker said.
"We couldn't afford to have an exclusively lesbian bar."

Maud's,
a lesbian bar in the Haight, had just opened.

Joplin
was performing and writing music, while Whitaker worked various jobs. The
relationship eventually faded, and Whitaker went on to work for the U.S. Postal
Service and play music herself in a trio band. Whitaker has since been featured
in the documentary, "Janis: Little Girl Blue," which discusses Joplin's
multiple lesbian relationships.

In the ACT production "A
Night with Janis Joplin," playing at the Geary Theater through July 16,
Joplin's none-too-secret bisexuality is ignored, as Bay Area Reporter
critic Richard Dodds wrote in his review. Joplin died in 1970 of a heroin
overdose at the age of 27.

The
history museum event ended with a standing ovation for Whitaker and the
fulfillment of the exhibit's purpose, which as Cain said is, "to reclaim
the major queer figures who were responsible for the Summer of Love."

One
audience member, Arthur Corbin, a San Francisco LGBTQ activist for more than 40
years said, "There is almost no one left from her generation." He
spoke about the significance of learning from the past.

"History
is really important," Corbin added. "It's important for people like
Jae to speak out and talk about their history and support the younger
generation who are still struggling. History helps us to understand that times
like now are manageable. It's not without its challenges, but we know we can do
it."

For
Kerby Lynch, a student at UC Berkeley who identifies as a lesbian, Whitaker's
talk inspired gratefulness.

"I
have great appreciation for Jae. She has so much wisdom," the 22-year-old
said. "African-American women in history have faced intense times of
oppression. We have much more freedom today and we have to appreciate the times
we live in."

After
the event, two women sat side-by-side discussing Whitaker's tenacity, spirit,
and the influence of the Beat Generation on today's LGBTQ community.

"She
has an incredible spirit despite the things that happened to her," said
Grace Santana, a San Francisco native. "The freedom we have today is based
on how people fought and lived then. They changed the public's view."

Her
friend, Erika Huggins, said, "What I took away was her jokes, resistance,
joy, and her complete wholeness. She's just a wonderful human being."

"Lavender-Tinted
Glasses: A Groovy Gay Look at the Summer of Love" runs through September
17. For more information, visit http://www.glbthistory.org
.